BehavioRx Case of the Month
for September 1996

The following case from my files is true; only the names have been changed to protect the privacy of the clients. I have avoided technical behavioral terms and standard clinical data jargon in order to communicate effectively with pet owners generally. If any of my professional colleagues are interested in technical detail or background, they are invited to e-mail me specific questions, which will be answered as quickly as possible.

General Problem Category: Aggression to Owner and Grief
The Case of the Pining Poodle

An 85 year-old retired nurse called the HelpLine with a problem that had her on the brink of depression. Her husband had died four months earlier, after spending two years confined to bed with terminal cancer. The couple's ten year old male miniature Poodle had stayed with his dying owner every day and night, leaving only to eat and attend to his toilet duties. He guarded the man from all strangers, growling when people approached. He licked the old man's hair and hands, as if maternally grooming a puppy.

When death finally ended his sad vigil, the Poodle had to be forcibly removed by the wife so ambulance personnel could safely remove the body. From that moment on the Poodle ignored the widow, refusing to allow her to pet him by growling and threatening to bite her. Their only interaction was at feeding times and to be let out and into the house for his toilet. He slept on the bed where the man had died, which was in a separate room from the woman's bedroom. The woman called on referral from her veterinarian.

The dog was in excellent health. Paradoxically, he enthusiastically greeted visitors, who called almost daily. The owner led an active social life, and still drove herself for shopping, etc. Whenever she returned home, the poodle never greeted her, or even looked at her. He persisted to aggressively reject her affectionate advances or words. As an ex-nurse, the owner had seen death and grieving many times, but said she had never before heard of a situation like hers.

When asked what she thought might be at the root of the strange behavior, she ventured that the Poodle might never forgive her for removing him from her husband's bed while the medics removed her husband's body - he might, quite literally, be punishing her. She said it was emotionally quite painful to see her dog lavishing affection on visitors, while pointedly ignoring or rejecting her.

We asked how she felt about having to take the dog away from her husband's bed. This, because of an association between the affection and the memory of her taking him away from the bed. She said she could appreciate that possibility.

We then asked how she thought the Poodle would react if she ignored him for a few days. She said he would probably be quite surprised, but that it was worth a try. We advised her to be quite matter of fact, with the dog, to simply take care of his feedings and let him in and out of the house when needed. If he started to seek attention and/or affection, she was to pet and praise him briefly... only a few seconds. We asked her to phone any time she had further questions, but to be sure to call back in a week to let us know how things were proceeding.

She called to report that the Poodle began coming out of the room and seeking her out on the evening of second day. Later, he started getting on her lap and seeking petting. By the third day he started to lick her affectionately. She said she was sure they both felt much better and could now go forward in life happily. Interestingly, she then asked about our background in the field of behavior, and seemed fascinated to know that professional HelpLine services are available to pet owners.

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